Come on and take a free ride

December 28, 2012

HANCOCK - A tradition started by Neil's Taxi about 20 years ago is continuing this year, with the intention of making the roads safer for New Year's celebrations.

Steve Bates, spokesperson for the Hancock-based cab company, said people who are out celebrating the change from 2012 to 2013 with alcohol can get a free ride home only from local bars, restaurants or parties in the Hancock/Houghton and Calumet/Laurium areas within a 10-mile radius of the establishment.

It's possible to get a ride from one celebration location to another, Bates said, but those rides won't be part of the promotion.

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Kurt Hauglie/Daily Mining GazetteSteve Bates, spokesperson for Neil’s Taxi in Hancock, stands in front of one of the company’s cabs, which will be used for their free rides home for those who have been celebrating New Year’s Eve with alcohol.

"You can go to another, but you have to pay for it," he said.

Bates said the company has five cabs and they will all be available for free rides during the night from midnight to 4 a.m. Jan. 1. There will be a limit of four passengers per cab, and drinking of alcohol will not be allowed during the ride home.

The taxi company started the free-ride promotion as a way to keep people who had been drinking from driving, and as a way to ease the New Year's celebration burden of local police.

"People can have a good time," he said.

The free-ride promotion is sponsored by the bar and restaurant owners in the coverage area, Bates said.

For the Hancock/Houghton area, the telephone number for Neil's Taxi is 482-5515, and in the Calumet/Laurium area, 337-1800.